This will be my written record of my research, findings and progress. Please chime in if you see that I need "help".

I have 26 inch, 7 speed, 3 wheeler.

Looking for an "about 20 mile range". So, , , , , With all of the current Bike Craziness, I need to get moving before everything is Sold Out!

First: The Motor Power Between the Blogs, Reviews and YouTube videos you find that all of this sort-of goes two ways; "just getting around" on flat ground, or getting around with a few hills, etc., even "off road". We're Flat so I'll stick there. IF you don't need to go "fast", a lot of things start with a 500 Watt motor, although there does not seem to be much out there to buy right now, if any. Next it steps up to 750 watts and then 1000 watts (I'm really only seeing 1000 watt kits available right now). Now, I think you can get up to 1500 watts or more. It seems that most people agree that a 500 watt motor will get the job done. But, 500 watts can come up short based on your weight and that of the bike.

But, as many E-Bike folks seem to agree, , , , bigger is always better, "Nobody ever said that they wished they had a smaller motor!". So, I'm sticking with 1000 watts (48V).

NEXT: Motor configuration and installation positions.

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 07/18/2020 at 04:27 AM by dingpatch

Well. If you want to find motors, go to Cruzin cooler upgrades. The motorized coolers use all the same parts. If you can find a used one with dead batteries, which are in the 250 range, you can cannabalize the whole operating system and retrofit it to your bike.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

johnny,

Not the same thing, here's what I just ordered:



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Dora Hates You

So, I did buy the 1000W front motor kit as shown above, along with the separate 48 volt, 13 amp hour, battery. So, I'll cut to the chase a bit in regard to the "as is" motor kit and the battery.

The motor kit comes with everything you need (less battery). The one "catch" with this kit's handle bar mounted throttle is that it is for a "right side mount", as they all are. It would be good if they were made for an "ambidextrous" mount. My problem is that the bike's gear shifter is on the right side and it is, at this point, permanently attached to the handle bar with a robust pin, or two. Not too big of a deal. I'll have to move the hand brake a bit in order to get to the pins with a punch pin or drill. The gear shifter can be mounted on the left side but, it will be "upside down" in regard to shift direction. The motor throttle will be more practical in use on the right side because if it was installed on the left, it would be easy to get "fast" and "slow" mixed up. More info when I get the motor kit.

The battery mounts on the frame where your "water bottle" holder would go. The installation looks/seems to be pretty straight-forward and simple. I went with the 13 amp hour version; a lot of the blogs, reviews and YouTube pretty much said that 12 amp hours was sort-of a "minimum". Otherwise, after the 10 to 13 aH range the pricing starts a good upward curve! More when I get the battery.

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Dora Hates You

Not the same at all. That looks way better than what I was thinking.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Your build should really be nice and fun.\

(of course no personal satisfaction for me in building my own )

Got mine used off craigslist about 4 years ago for $850
still going strong.
7 speed
500 watt, 48v batt
25 mile range
Max speed 23





















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Puerto Rico 11 - 24 - 2013

Edited: 07/09/2020 at 04:04 AM by SunriseSurfer

Sunrisesurfer wins this thread.

Nice bike!

Cool stuff. I was wondering about the availability of the motors, batteries, and hubs since so many come from China. I've been thinking about building one of those 3-wheelers for my 82-year old dad. But I'd hate to see him goose the throttle of a 1000-watt motor while turning a corner on one of those!

A high powered electric three wheeler sounds like a death trap. Three wheelers are sketchy to ride all on their own.

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I was right.

Just saw a guy towing his log with his electric bike at the fort pierce inlet. He came from the north where he didnt have to pay the $6 to get in. Rode the beach the whole way down. Pretty impressive speed too.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

They are telling me that I should be able to do "almost 30 MPH" with a 20 mile range.

Still waiting for everything to get here.

I did figure out that the whole handle bar thingy is just about too much to F with. Ya, the shifter needs to be removed and mounted on the left side, which would be "funky" but, , , , the one thing I found is that the handle bar grips are immovably attached to the bars!!! Either they heated them and then "stretched" them on, or they used an adhesive. Too much hassle all-around so I'll replace the handle bar and stem fork (EDIT: I cut the handle bars in half with a Dremel cutoff tool and, as such, did not need a new fork stem), the grips and the shifter. A simple "thumb" shifter (like Sunrise's) should be fine on the right side with the motor control and brake. It looks like my total "nut" will be about $550. The battery from Amazon was $267.75 and the motor/wheel kit from Walmart was $183, plus add the bigger front brake pads, the torque arms for the front forks, the handle bar, the grips, and the thumb shifter.

And to clarify a bit, , , , I have a 3 wheeler because after the heavy-duty chemo I had a "mild" balance problem, Was not too bad at all but, at times I felt like I was "taking a left" so, a 3 wheeler it was. All-things-considered now, I'd get a single speed and not a 7 speed. The rear axle and derailer makes it impossible to fit a rear motor, and the configuration of the frame in the area of the pedals makes it a graduate level engineering task to fit a "mid drive" on it.

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/14/2020 at 11:00 AM by dingpatch

I have built and ridden 2 kit E bikes like this (not 3 wheel)
I have lots of spare parts and war stories if you need them
Including a 36V lithium battery.

My main advice.
Good brakes.
Disc at a minimum, Hydraulic if you can.

My current bike is a fully made in China Rad Power. Much better than what I built myself.


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

My current bike is a fully made in China Rad Power. Much better than what I built myself.


Do you take it off of some sweet jumps?


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I was right.

nope. It weighs 65 lbs!

No sledgehammer

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/...ucts/radcity-step-thru


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Edited: 07/17/2020 at 08:37 PM by WG

I pedal my bike. Call me silly.

Just got it done! Works like a champ, and it hauls ass.

I'll get my head together and fill in all the blanks about the build.

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Dora Hates You

So, to start this "afresh", , , ,

Here is the trike I have. I paid $207 total back in January. It is now $339.99 from the same eBay seller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/123938405147

Here is the battery I bought from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...itle_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Now, the trike is "OK" and otherwise meets my needs BUT< if to do over again, I'd buy an old used Schwinn and fix-it-up. Too many hassles with the one I got: The handle bar thing was not too much of a pain but, I did not need the hassle. The pedal crank hub is much larger diameter than "normal"; the Pedal Assist Sensor does not easily fit and I otherwise still need to figure out how/where to epoxy the sensor to the hub. I'll post an update when/if I resolve this "issue". I do not Have to have a "pedal assist" yet.

No problems with the hub motor wheel assembly.

BUT, the battery placement was a problem! So, in general, nominal, terms the battery is about 14.5 inches long (365MM). Not knowing anything about it, "sure, I've got 14.5 inches of space". WRONG!! Sure, the battery is 14.5 inches long BUT, the way it mounts and then the way the actual battery compartment dismounts from the base requires another 1.5 inches or more! I had to "rig" up the mounting to "raise" it about 5/8 inch above the frame so that I could get the required 16 inches of space (estimate). The other thing was the mounting holes. The battery base is made to machine screw into the nutserts in the frame where you would attach your water bottle holder, etc.,. BUT, the mounts on my trike where not even close to where they needed to be! The mounting nutserts needed to be on the upper part of the the frame but, they were on the lower part close to the crank hub. No problems though, I own a drill! I used the existing nutserts to help attach the battery base to the frame and then drilled two (2) holes into the frame to use the actual base mounting holes with sheetmetal screws. And, with that, please keep in mind that the tubes of the frame are not near as "thick" as you might guess. Certain applications would certainly require the insertion of nutserts or rivet nuts. My solution sure aint pretty but it works fine.

Another thing about the battery, not the actual battery but the 1000 watt motor controller. I could not find a plastic "ebike motor controller box" to fit it. Sure, if you dig deep enough you may find a box that shows enough interior space for the controller BUT, , , , with NO SPACE left over for any cables/wires. Had to go with a pretty standard controller "bag" to have room for the controller and all of the "excess" cable/wires.

More to follow, , , , ,

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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/11/2020 at 05:57 AM by dingpatch

Nice it is coming to together. Can you post a few photos?

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Time and tide wait for no one.....

Here is the hub motor/front wheel:



Notice the "torque arm"


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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/14/2020 at 11:10 AM by dingpatch

Here's the rig job I had to do in order to get the battery to "fit". The yellow ties are just for wiring. It was built on-the-fly and IF I was to it again, , , , , I'd do a lot better on its final looks!!



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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/14/2020 at 11:13 AM by dingpatch

"Motor Controller" bag (with controller and excess cable/wire inside). Still keeping an eye out for a suitable plastic box.



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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/14/2020 at 11:16 AM by dingpatch

Here's the final "problem"; the PAS (pedal assist system sensor). This black "thing" has magnets in it that the sensor picks up if/while you pedal. The motor pitches in to help you pedal. BUT, as I said before, , , , the pedal hub is a "hair" too big for a standard install of the sensor itself. I've taken the sensor (red) off of the supplied mounting ring and will use a touch of epoxy to mount it. AND also, regardless of the size of the pedal hub, , , , when the pedal crank and all is taken off, there is nowhere for the sensor mount to go that is stationary and otherwise does not rotate with the crank.









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Dora Hates You

So, I got it "up and running" Tuesday (8/11). It has a lot of "get up and go"! I opened her up and I'll have to say that it was a little faster than I am comfortable with, as yet. Zipped here and there in the neighborhood to run the battery down some.

Put a full charge on the battery on Wednesday and made a run to Fiberglass Florida to get some MEKP; 5.6 miles roundtrip. Went to the drinking hole that afternoon; 1.4 miles RT. On my way home from drinking the "Green" (full) light started to blink upon acceleration. On Thursday I made a run to the Suntree Library; 3.2 miles RT. The "green" light went out about half-way home. I went to Walmart this morning; 5.6 miles RT and the "Yellow" light (Half) started blinking on the way home. Got home, fiddled around in the garage, and then made a trip to the library; 3.2 miles RT. The "yellow" light was out before I got home. So, all-in-all, I got 19 miles out of the charge, with probably a few more miles to spare.

The battery's literature says to not run the battery down to "dead" because it will deteriorate the battery's life span, if not just plain kill it in some cases(?). And, it says to charge it to "full', and never just half way(?).



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Dora Hates You

Edited: 08/21/2020 at 07:29 AM by dingpatch

Just made a run to Fiberglass Florida. I had did some research about GPS "trip recording" apps and settled on Strava. Pretty good and it has everything I need. On the way home I got off of the sidewalk and opened her up on the street. Strava reports that my top speed was 30.6 MPH !!!

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Dora Hates You

wow
at that speed hope you are wearing a helmet
especially on a three wheeler

I have a helmet but, was not wearing it yesterday. My normal trip around Suntree is at between 8 and 10 MPH. 15 MPH is plenty fast.

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Dora Hates You